Screenplay Format: The Complete Guide to Formatting Your Script

Screenplay format exists for one practical reason: a film production involves dozens of people — the director, the actors, the first assistant director, the director of photography, the locations manager — all reading the same document and needing to extract different things from it. A standardised screenplay format is what makes that possible. If you want to write a screenplay that gets read seriously, understanding the format is not optional.

This guide covers every formatting element you need to know, what belongs in a spec script and what doesn’t, and how to apply these rules whether you’re writing a short film or a feature.

Why Format Is Standardised

The industry-standard screenplay format dates back to early Hollywood and has barely changed since the 1930s. Its conventions — Courier 12pt, fixed margins, specific elements in specific positions on the page — exist because they make the script predictable to read. A reader who knows the format can skim for scene headings, find dialogue instantly, and estimate a film’s running time by page count (roughly one minute per page).

For a short film, that predictability is just as valuable. When you hand your script to a director of photography, an actor, or a location scout, they already know how to read it.

The Five Formatting Elements

1. Scene Headings (Sluglines)

A scene heading — also called a slugline — appears at the start of every new scene. It tells the reader where and when the scene takes place.

Format: INT. LOCATION — TIME or EXT. LOCATION — TIME

• INT. means interior; EXT. means exterior
• Written in ALL CAPS with no punctuation at the end
• Location should be brief and consistent — use the same name every time you return to the same place
• Time is typically DAY, NIGHT, DAWN, or DUSK — avoid being overly specific unless it matters to the story

Examples: INT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY / EXT. ROOFTOP — NIGHT / INT. ANNA'S APARTMENT — KITCHEN — MORNING

2. Action Lines

Action lines describe what the audience sees and hears. They are written in present tense, third person, and strictly limited to what is observable on screen.

• Present tense: The door opens. Not The door opened.
• Only what can be seen or heard — no internal thoughts, no backstory
• Keep blocks to 3–4 lines maximum; white space aids readability
• Introduce speaking characters in ALL CAPS their first appearance: MAYA, late 20s, steps into the light.

3. Character Names

Before every line of dialogue, the character’s name appears in ALL CAPS, centred on the page. Use the name consistently throughout. If a character’s name is not yet known, use a descriptor: STRANGER, CASHIER. Never change a character’s name once established.

4. Parentheticals

Parentheticals appear in parentheses between the character name and the dialogue. They direct the actor’s delivery. Use them sparingly — only when the reading of a line would be genuinely misleading without one. If the emotion is clear from context or from the surrounding action, cut the parenthetical. Overuse is one of the clearest markers of an inexperienced writer.

5. Dialogue

Write dialogue exactly as it would be spoken. If a character’s body language during a line matters, put it in a brief action line before or after the speech — not embedded inside a parenthetical.

Margins and Font

Why Courier 12pt? This monospaced font at this specific size produces roughly one minute of screen time per page — which is why page count is used to estimate running time. If you’re using formatting software, these margins are handled automatically.

What NOT to Include in a Spec Script

A spec screenplay is written to sell or as a writing sample. When writing on spec:

• No scene numbers — added during pre-production, not by the writer
• No camera directions — avoid CLOSE ON, PAN TO, PUSH IN; trust the director
• No “we see” or “we hear” — cut these entirely. The phone rings is stronger than We hear the phone ring
• No emotional interiority — if it can’t be shown or heard, it doesn’t belong on the page. “He feels betrayed” tells us nothing; “He sets the key on the table and walks out” shows us
• No transitions — CUT TO: and DISSOLVE TO: are production notation, not spec writing

Camera direction in a spec script signals a writer who doesn’t understand their role. The screenplay is the writer’s domain; the shot is the director’s.

Short Film Format

The same rules apply to short film screenplays. The only practical difference is length: a short film script runs 5–15 pages rather than 90–120. Clean formatting matters even more here — with fewer pages, every element is more visible.

If you’re working from an existing script and need to break it down into shots, the shot list generator parses your INT. and EXT. sluglines automatically and organises them into a production-ready hierarchy.

Tools That Format Automatically

Formatting a screenplay by hand in a word processor is error-prone and slow. These tools automate it:

• Final Draft — industry standard desktop application; expensive but reliable
• Highland 2 — Mac-only, clean interface, mid-range price
• Fade In — affordable cross-platform alternative
• Screenplay Writer (Google Docs add-on) — auto-formats scene headings, action lines, character names, dialogue, and parentheticals as you type, directly inside Google Docs. 21-day free trial.

For a deeper understanding of what each element communicates, read what is a screenplay before you start applying these rules.

Ready to format your screenplay?
Screenplay Writer is a Google Docs add-on that handles all the formatting rules in this guide automatically — scene headings, action lines, character names, dialogue, and parentheticals, all properly positioned as you type. 21-day free trial.
Try Screenplay Writer Free →